Software installation programs, often referred to as “software installers,” that load or install software onto a storage device of a computer are well-known. An example of a simple installer is an executable file containing a self-extracting archive of the software to be installed onto the storage device. An administrator of the computer, having decided to install the software onto the storage device, generally copies the executable file to the computer (e.g., to the storage device) and executes the file. During execution, the executable file extracts software components (e.g., files) from the archive and copies them to the storage device.
An example of a more sophisticated installer is one that presents the administrator with a user interface to select or deselect software for installation onto the storage device. A software installer may propose to the administrator a default set of software components selected for installation, and the administrator may use the user interface to modify that set prior to installation so that the modified set of software components is installed onto the storage device. This type of feature provides the administrator with some flexibility in allocating available storage capacity of the storage device.